Main menu

Post navigation

UPDATE: RantSports.com, whose article by Justine Hendricks was a large part of this post, has contacted Brood Coffee Talk and requested that their content be removed from this weblog, or they would “take further action.”

Therefore, another article by richwebnews on Allvoices.com has been substituted…with apologies to RantSports for the use of their material.

*******

President Obama delivered a moving speech during a prayer vigil at the Newtown High School Sunday night, in remembrance of the 26 victims of last Friday’s shooting massacre.

The speech lasted 18 minutes…and, due to its importance was covered by NBC News, amongst others.

Unfortunately for some, apparently, the speech temporarily pre-empted the New England Patriots/San Francisco 49ers NFL game that was being played that night. So, the first 18 minutes of the game were not available to NBC viewers.

Within minutes Twitter erupted with calls of protest, many of which used language that could best be characterized as racist and adult.

North Alabama college football player Bradley Patterson was one of these. In his tweet he used the six-letter Southern version of the word “Negro,” in itself not a very pleasant term.

President Obama arrived in Newtown, Conn., on Sunday evening to offer support to the grieving town, especially the victim families of [the] Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting tragedy. The president’s speech at a vigil was carried live by major TV networks, including NBC, which chose to pre-empt its “Sunday Night Football” broadcast.

But as the president delivered his speech during an NFL game, it brought out some of America’s dumbest racists reaction on social media like Twitter.

Deadspin, a website that covers sports gossip, has documented some of the racist and “n-word”-laced tweets from angry football fans who objected to President Obama addressing the Newtown, Conn. murders during gametime Sunday.

Among the tweets collected by Deadspin was one from a University of North Alabama player named Bradley Patterson, who was reportedly cut from the team after tweeting:

Patterson’s tweet was brought to the attention of the school athletic director, and now “[h]e is no longer a member of the team, according to a tweet tonight by UNA Athletic Director Mark Linder,” according to a report on Al.com.

In fact, all 14 NFL games on Sunday observed moments of silence to remember the victims of the tragic Connecticut elementary school shooting.

Opinion:

The fact is that some documented tweets by Deadspin were filled with hate and racism, and frankly it was uncalled for in a civilized society. There is no need for the hate to spew over social media just because the TV network pre-empted the NFL game to air Obama’s speech. They advised the viewers prior to the speech.

Nonetheless, if watching [the] Patriots-49ers game was very important to you, then you could have used your TV remote control instead of going to Twitter to show what a jerk you are. However, NBC has to respect those who preferred to watch the football game as well. Some people are just fed-up with news about the terrible tragedy that has consumed most on TV, Internet, radio and social media.

As much as we respect everyone’s right to grieve over this tragedy that includes listening to the President speak more about the event then go for it. Moreover, NBC should have respected others who desire to cope [with] this horrible tragedy through watching [an] NFL football game.

So a no-name player from a no-name Southern college makes a racist comment and that leads you to believe that the whole world is racist? Yeah, sure it is. That’s why 51% of the voters chose our current President right?

If you spent half as much time looking for the good in people instead of the racism, how different could this world be? What kind of hostility does it foster when you call people racist all the time even when there is no racism?

All the articles, blogs etc. about this are almost as disturbing as this ignorant young man’s comment.

You make some good points. It is a sad fact that often, the actions of the minority get more attention than the millions who act appropriately.

As to your comment that there is “no racism”–if you would look at the disturbing number of tweets (and other responses) that were made during the speech with the word “nigger” in them (or some form of it), I don’t know how you could make such a claim. I can assure you, the casual use of that word by anyone who is NOT part of the black culture–unless using it in quotes–would at least qualify one as having racist views, knowing how inflammatory the word is.

I’m sorry that you believe the news coverage of incidents involving racism–in the hopes of demonstrating how morally and intellectually incorrect it is–makes one as racist as the perpetrators themselves. I suppose the news media should just stick its heads in the sand…because if it isn’t acknowledged, it doesn’t exist, right Pablo?